WARREN GAME REPORT: Duchene scores twice in return to Denver, but Avs stars steal show

The Ottawa Senators' Matt Duchene fights for position against the Colorado Avalanche's Carl Soderberg in his return to the Pepsi Center on Friday, Oct. 26, 2018, in Denver.David Zalubowski / AP

DENVER — For a while Friday, everything seemed to be falling perfectly into place for Matt Duchene in his return to his old home at the Pepsi Center.

But then the Colorado Avalanche’s biggest stars flexed their muscles and showcased just how dominant they can be, en route to a 6-3 defeat of the Ottawa Senators.

When it mattered most, the Senators had no answers for the high-scoring trio of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen.

Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson, center, stops a shot off the stick of Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog, front, as center Nathan MacKinnon looks on in the third period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Oct. 26, 2018, in Denver. The Avalanche won 6-3.David Zalubowski /
AP

While a pair of goals from Duchene had helped give the Senators a 3-1 lead midway through the second period, Ottawa was on its heels as the threesome cranked up the pressure.

Rantanen made it 3-2 on a power play late in the second period.

After Carl Sodeberg tied the game 3-3 on a power play one minute into the third period, banking a shot off goalie Craig Anderson’s skate, the big guns put the Senators away.

Landeskog beat Anderson to the short side five minutes later to make it 4-3. Another 2:24 later, MacKinnon finished off a pretty feed from Landeskog to put the game out of reach of a Senators squad that ran out of gas in the Rocky Mountain air. Matt Nieto put the finishing touches on the victory, scoring with 4:27 to go.

It’s still early in the season, but the Senators are writing the same script on many nights. They have no way to stop the NHL’s top trios.

The Colorado Avalanche’s Gabriel Landeskog looks to pass the puck past the Ottawa Senators’ Mark Stone in the first period.David Zalubowski /
AP

You could see this rally coming from a long way away.

On the road, without the last change, Senators coach Guy Boucher recognized he had little control over who played against the Avalanche stars. When the threesome is on, they are something special to watch.

Until they found their touch, though, much of the game centred around Duchene.

With the Senators leading 1-0 on an early Ryan Dzingel goal, the Avalanche did the classy thing and celebrated Duchene’s time with the Avalanche with a tribute on the video scoreboard midway through the first period.

Most of the crowd — many wearing Avalanche jerseys with “Duchene” on the back and others who brought Duchene signs to the game — responded with applause. There were some scattered boos and one leather-lunged fan offered up a “you quitter” in reference to Duchene’s request for a trade away from the Avalanche.

Duchene, seated on the Senators’ bench, acknowledged the gesture by raising his stick in the air.

But there were more boos directed toward Duchene and his new team only seconds later.

On the ensuing faceoff, Colin White cleanly won the draw. From his spot inside the blue line, Cody Ceci fired a puck toward the Avalanche net. Duchene, stationed to the left of goaltender Philipp Grubauer, neatly deflected the puck into the net.

Duchene had the magic touch in the second period, too. After Samuel Girard narrowed the Senators’ lead to 2-1, finishing off some fine work by the top Avalanche line, Duchene scored only 12 seconds later to restore the Senators’ two-goal lead. The goal came following a pretty feed from White on a 2-on-1 break.

Unfortunately for the Senators, that was the end of their celebrations.

Duchene bought a suite at the arena so that friends and family could take in his unusual circumstances.

“This city is still home for me and it always will be,” Duchene said before the puck dropped. “I have family here and my wife is from here, and I grew up here, in a way. There are a lot of emotions, for sure. It wasn’t just like I said, ‘I’m done,’ and walked out of here.”

Duchene, who still has a home in Denver, was choked up after walking into the building for the first time since Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic granted his request for a trade, shipping him to the Senators in a colossal three-way deal last November.

Duchene spent more than eight seasons with the Avalanche.

“I’m pretty emotional,” he said. “It’s hard not to feel that way, given what playing here meant to me.”

Countless players have been through similar situations, but Duchene did lean on others for advice.

“We walked in together (for Friday’s morning skate) and we talked about it,” said Senators winger Bobby Ryan, who went through a similar episode when he went back to Anaheim in 2013.

“It’s weird. You’re saying hello to the rink staff and the guys you have known for a long time. You have a lot of emotions before the game, but after the first shift you kind of just get back into the groove. But you’ve got relationships and you’ll ask guys (on the other team) about their families during the game and ask how they’re doing.”

Alex Formenton of the Senators battles with Matt Calvert in the second period.David Zalubowski /
AP

JUST ANOTHER GAME

Landeskog had dinner with Duchene on Thursday after the Senators flew in from Ottawa.

While he recognizes that Duchene was dealing with a spectrum of feelings, Landeskog insisted Avalanche players long ago dealt with the fact Duchene was gone.

He also deflected away suggestions that trading away Duchene is the reason why the Avalanche had a strong second half to the 2017-18 season.

Before Friday’s tilt, the Avalanche had gone 41-26-11 since the Duchene trade. The Senators? A not-so-fine 26-41-7.

“I look at that Sweden trip as a great team-bonding experience and I think that’s where our team grew together,” Landeskog said. “Whether he was on the team or not, it would have had a similar effect. We sort of found our groove and started playing a lot better.”

THE TRADE THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

MacKinnon, meanwhile, was raving Friday morning about the play of Girard, who arrived from Nashville in the three-way swap.

“He’s a stud,” MacKinnon said of the 20-year-old, who came into the game with three assists in 10 games. His first goal of the year came in the second period.

While the Avalanche also own the Senators’ first-round pick in the 2019 draft as part of the deal, MacKinnon says Ottawa’s current players have plenty to prove.

“It would be nice to get a high pick, but we’re not expecting a high pick,” MacKinnon said. “I didn’t really expect them to be bad this season. I kind of compared it to our team from last year. You have a lot to prove when you’re expected to be a last-place team. It drives you. You have a chip on your shoulder. I expect them to be a good team.”

On Friday morning, the Senators were ranked 21st overall. If the season finished that way, the Avalanche would have a three per cent chance of securing the first overall draft selection, expected to be Jack Hughes.

For the record, Shane Bowers, the Senators’ 2017 first-round pick who also went to Colorado in the trade, has one goal in three games with Boston University this season.

DEFENSIVE MEASURES

Senators defenceman Cody Ceci returned against Colorado after missing the previous four games with an upper-body injury, but the Senators are carrying three other blue-liners who didn’t play against Colorado.

Ben Harpur (undisclosed injury), Mark Borowiecki (suspension) and Christian Wolanin (healthy scratch) were all out. Ultimately, Senators coach Guy Boucher opted to use Max McCormick as a 12th forward rather than using Wolanin as a seventh defenceman.

BIG MONEY ON THE HORIZON

The explosive Avalanche line of MacKinnon, Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen went into Friday’s action with a combined 43 points in the first 10 games. Before meeting Ottawa, the trio had scored 13 of Colorado’s previous 16 goals.

As we thought about the oodles of cash Rantanen, 21, whose entry-level contract expires after this season, will soon earn with the Avalanche, we also looked at the top of the 2015 draft class that has the potential to be one of the best of all-time: Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Dylan Strome, Mitch Marner, Noah Hanifin, Pavel Zacha, Ivan Provorov, Zach Werenski, Timo Meier and Rantanen. The Senators did extremely well, too, securing Thomas Chabot with the 18th selection and taking Colin White at No. 21.

Ryan Dzingel is congratulated after scoring in the first period.David Zalubowski /
AP

SEEN AND HEARD

Fitting, wasn’t it, that Kyle Turris scored the game-winning overtime goal for Nashville on the eve of Duchene’s return to Colorado? … Why is there that unmistakable skunk-like smell along the hip 16th Street Mall area in Denver? And is that smell coming to Canada?… Many downtown Denver hotels were full this week, due to a magnet convention that kept pulling people in. … The Senators were scheduled to leave Las Vegas immediately following Friday’s game in preparation for Sunday’s contest against the Vegas Golden Knights.

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